Before it's too Late
by SiriusBlackLoverr
Summary: Harry has realized his feelings for Hermione, but can he gain the courage to tell her how he feels before Ron does? Rated T, just incase, might change later.
1. Chapter 1

"Hermione!" Harry yelled. He was walking down into the common room. It was early, he wasn't sure of the time, but he saw light streaming in from the window. It was so beautiful he loved days like this. Days that he could just stare out the window, look at the clear sky, and wish for better times. Ever since Sirius, his beloved Godfather died, he took refuge in starring out into the cloudless sky.

"Yes, Harry?" Hermione had popped out of nowhere, stealing Harry from his thoughts. He had been caught starring out the window, again. He had made the mistake in telling Hermione that he thought of Sirius when he looked out the window. She was under the impression that this would upset him, but he took comfort in it, she just didn't understand. She had never lost anyone like he had. Even when he told her, told her a million times over, that looking out the window doesn't make him sad, she would not believe him. "Harry, I thought you had something to ask or tell me?" Hermione asked when she received a blank stare from Harry. He certainly _did_ have something to talk to her about, something to ask her, but he couldn't do it. He had lost his never again.

"Sorry Hermione, I just wanted to say good morning," Harry said, hoping a blush did not appear on his cheeks. No, he wanted to do more than say good morning. He wanted to tell her how he felt about her. How whenever he saw her, he got butterflies in his stomach. Whenever she smiled at him, he felt a little dizzy. He thought he had a crush on Cho Chang, but it was nothing compared to this.

His feelings for her changed drastically with a dream he had one night a couple months back. He could remember is quite clearly. He was at a Wedding, and at first he didn't know whose it was. Then he saw Ron, and Harry realized he was standing in the spot that the Best Man would generally stand in. He smiled to himself. He was curious of who the Bride was, and he could not wait to find out. He'd definitely make fun of Ron later for it. But then, once he saw the Bride, Harry decided Ron would never hear of this dream. It was Hermione, looking beautiful as ever. He clenched his fists, and had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. What was it? Nerves? But why, as the Best Man, would he be nervous? Then he figured it out, it was jealousy. But it was just Hermione! His best friend, the girl he loved as a sister, nothing more! Nothing more… But the feeling, the jealousy, that was not nothing. And suddenly he realized, he did feel something for Hermione. Something more than friendship. Suddenly, he wanted to be with Hermione all the time. He wanted to hold her close, to hug her longer than what is generally not usual between friends. It was killing him. And also, he knew Ron liked Hermione. Harry could tell, and he was beginning to doubt that Hermione didn't like Ron the same. This made him angry, he wouldn't, wouldn't, let Ron have her, Ron didn't feel as much as he did…

"Well, Harry, meet Ron and I in the Great Hall for breakfast?" Hermione asked.

"Sure, yeah, I'll be there in a little bit," He hated how she said "Ron and I". Were they a couple? Dating behind his back? No, they weren't, he reassured himself. He was just panicking. They were his best friends, they would tell him, wouldn't they? Yes, they would, but whether they were dating or not, they had a thing for each other. Harry knew that he had to act quickly. It was time to be a man, and tell Hermione how he felt. He had to do it before it was too late.

"Tonight, tonight I'll tell her, I'll tell her everything," Harry said to himself. And now, the feeling in his stomach was not jealousy. This time it was really nerves.

**A/N: Not much, I thought I'd see if there was any interest in the story. If so, please review so I know whether to continue or not! Thanks! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don not own Harry Potter, or any of it's characters, for I am not JK Rowling. **

Harry arrived at the Great Hall just a few minutes after he decided that today was the day, the day he'd dish his heart out to Hermione. His hands were sweaty; his heart was beating at an unusual rate. This was going to be a long day, he thought. He wasn't eve going to talk to her until tonight. By the lake, he decided. But how would he shake Ron off? Hopefully it would prove to be easy. At least, getting her alone, that is. After that Harry honestly did not know how he would explain how he felt. The thought made him nauseous.

As he walked between the tables, to join his two best mates, he felt like he would faint on the spot. Then, Hermione turned and saw him, and gave him that beautiful smile. Staying on his feet was proving to be difficult.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed as he sat down next to her at the table.

"Hi," he said. It was the only word he could form when he was this nervous.

"What took you so long this morning, mate?" Ron asked, with no regard to the fact that he still had eggs in his mouth. It looked repulsive. Hermione must have thought the same, because shortly after Rons question, she said:

"Ronald, can't you finish chewing your fault before speaking?" She sounded annoyed. Harry's lips twitched up a little at this. At least he didn't repulse her by talking with food in his mouth, right?

"Don't call me Ronald!" Ron demanded, a deep blush on his cheeks. Hermione and Harry both laughed out loud. After a few seconds of quiet, Ron muttered again "What held you up?" To this, Harry didn't have much of an answer. The only thing he did when they left was that he thought about Hermione. And he wouldn't tell them that.

Harry thought quickly, though and said, "I had a paragraph left to write for my Potions essay," he was quite proud of his fib. Then, he saw Hermione roll her eyes. Of course she would, she was like a mother in that sense. She wouldn't stop nagging them about their homework. That was one of her flaws. But he other qualities outshone that. He loved how caring she was, how she would be so dedicated to a cause. In the back of his mind, Harry thought that that meant she would be a very royal person in a relationship. Then, he realized and blushed. He hoped they didn't see, but of course they did.

"Harry, you're… Blushing?" Ron laughed. "What, are you suddenly embarrassed by Hermione's lectures after you do you homework last minute?" Ron asked. That made no sense, she didn't lecture me, Harry thought.

"What are you on about? Harry asked.

"You're blushing, Hermione lectured you…" Ron said, now unsure if what he said even made sense.

"Ron, she didn't lecture me, she hasn't even said a word!" Harry started laughing. But then he noticed Ron and Hermione were starring at him, as if he was a monkey in a cage at the zoo. "You didn't lecture me, right Hermione?" He asked, now unsure.

"Actually, Harry, I did. Nice to know you take me seriously," She said, she stood up and stomped out of the Great Hall. Harry was shocked, so shocked that he didn't get to yell after her, too shocked to recognize what was going on. Had she lectured him, and he just didn't listen?

"She's got a temper, that one, eh?" Ron nudges him.

"Yeah…" He trailed off.

"She was pissed!" Ron said and laughed. He was so ignorant.

"But why, why this time? She's never gotten mad about something like that before!" Harry said. And why, why today? The day he was going to pluck up enough courage to talk to her, finally talk to her. But he couldn't now. First he had to fix things with her. He sighed.

Ron heard Harry sighed, and thought he was aggravated that he had yet to answer he question, so he did, "I dunno mate, but I've never seen her like that." Ron wasn't helping.

"Do you think she'll forgive me?" Harry asked, his eyes pleading.

"'Course she will, but she'll be stubborn at first," he said, and resisted the urge to laugh. He finally figured out that Harry would probably punch him if he uttered a laugh, so he was trying to save his face. Harry sighed again.

Today was going to be a long day, but not for the reasons he had first imagined. He'd have to tell her about his feelings some other time. First, he had to get on good terms with her again…

"Hermione used to be mad at you for weeks straight, over almost nothing, right" Harry asked Ron. Of course he knew the answer, but he dreaded hearing it.

"Yeah! She's stubborn," Ron said. Harry felt his heart drop. Would it be easy for him to win her over again? He sure hoped so, but he doubted that hope would make it any easier.

Harry sighed, and heaved himself from the table. Ron saluted him, which made him laugh, when he didn't think he was capable of that at the moment. "Wish me luck?" He asked Ron.

Ron laughed, "I would, but I don't think it will help you any," Harry rolled his eyes at him, and started walking the length of the Great Hall. People were starring. Seamus was looking at him oddly, and some Ravenclaws he had never talked to wouldn't take their eyes off of him. Why? Had they seen Hermione storm off? He blushed, and hoped they didn't think it was his fault. When, really, it _was_.

The walk to the Common Room was quicker than usual, and Harry blamed it on his own nerves. He stood outside the Common Room, unmoving. Would she be sitting in the Common Room? If so, would she talk to him? Or would she be in her dorms? He figured she would be in the dorms, and wondered how he would to to her then. Maybe he'd ask another girl to fetch her for him.

He walked into the Common Room, and as he scanned for Hermione, he realized his prediction was right. She was in her dormitory. Then he looked for a girl he knew, until he spotted Ginny. "Ginny! Come here!" He yelled across the room, waving her over.

"What's up Harry? She asked with a smile. Harry felt bad, he knew she fancied him. But the only girl for him was Hermione.

"Well, I was wondering if you could get Hermione for me. I think she's in her dorm, I really need to talk to her," Ginny frowned, quite possibly because she was hoping that Harry would ask her to Hogsmeade.

"I don't think she wants to talk to you right now," Ginny said.

"Why not?" Harry asked, a little annoyed now. Of course she'd like to talk to them, they were best friends!

"I saw her run in, she was crying Harry. Would you have anything to do with that?" Ginny asked.

"Crying? What? No! No... Of course I didn't have anything to do with that!" Harry said, stumbling over his own words. Ginny raised her eyebrows, but she didn't comment.

"I can ask her to come down, if you like," She said. Was she trying to get on his good side?

"No thanks. I'll just have to talk to her later," Harry said, turning around to walk up into his own dorm.

Hermione was crying? But why? All of this confused Harry even more. Had she really been that insulted that I wasn't paying attention? Or was there something else behind the tears, that had nothing to do with harry himself? Or, maybe, everything to do with Harry? All these questions, but none could be answered until he talked to Hermione himself. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, knowing the inevitable would be arriving soon.

**A/N: If you like this story, please review! Please! :) I don't mean to beg, but reviews would be greatly appreciated. **


	3. Chapter 3

Harry sat in his bed for the longest time, not knowing what to do. This was all so confusing to him. He could never understand girls, but he thought he could understand Hermione. Apparently he did not, because she had no reason to be crying over this. It actually made him made. But the second he was angry, he felt guilty, because by now he had realized there was something more behind the tears. But what could that be? The door suddenly opened, Harry looked up, startled. It was Ron.

"What are you doing up here?" His friend casually asked. Harry didn't answer, he just starred.

"What?"

"It's Hermione… She's crying, apparently," Harry said.

"Crying?" Ron laughed. Harrys anger flared.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY RON!" Harry yelled across the room. Ron was shocked.

"I-I wasn't laughing because she is crying, mate. I just remembered something from first year, is all," Ron said hurriedly, afraid of Harrys temper.

"What? What were you remembering? How you made her CRY? How she almost DIED because of you?" Harry said, standing up, ready to strangle Ron.

"No, no! I was remembering how we became friends with her… The toll," Ron said, backing away. Harry stopped for a moment. The troll? Why is that funny? Well, Harry thought, it's Ron, there is no explanation needed.

Harry took a few breathes, before walking over to Ron and clasping his shoulder, maybe a bit to tightly, and saying, "It's alright, mate. Sorry, just been having a bad day is all," Ron didn't respond, he just nodded towards the door. Harry knew that that meant he had to talk to Hermione. He couldn't push it off forever. He got that nervous feeling in his stomach again, as he walked out of his dorm. He walked down the steps slowly, taking his time. When he got to the bottom, he scanned the room. Hermione wasn't there. Was she in her room? The library?

"Harry!" A voice yelled happily from across the room. He already knew who it was, the one Weasley girl.

"Hi Ginny, listen I have to talk to Hermione… Have you seen her?" Harry asked.

"I believe she went to the library, just a couple minutes ago," Ginny said, frowning.

"Thanks!" Harry said, trying to sound grateful, not nervous. He didn't think he succeeded.

"Yeah, talk to you later…" She trailed off. Harry still felt bad for Ginny, but she had to move on. Rumor has it Dean had a crush on her. Dean's a nice boy, she should go out with him, Harry thought.

Walking to the library was tough, he was nervous, and he didn't really want to get there. But he knew he had to. When he got to the library, he opened the door and peeked through. Sure enough, there was Hermione, head in a book. Then, he gathered all his Gryffindor courage, and pushed it all the way open. Hermione looked up, and when she saw him she jumped to grab her things, as if to make a dash for it. That was the first time Harry realized it was a bad idea to confront her in the library, of all places.

Hermione attempted to run right by Harry, but he grabbed her arm.

"Let me go," She hissed. So he did, but he didn't feel like that was the right decision after he watched her storm out of the library. Then, he did the only thing he could, which was to run after her.

"Hermione!" He yelled. He knew full well that she could hear him. "Hermione!" he yelled again, no response. He was athletic thought, he was sure he could catch her. He started running faster, feeling adrenaline pump through him, willing him to go even faster. She turned around, and decided it was foolish to try to sprint away from him, so she stopped.

"Hermione," He said, slightly out of breath. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry that I ignored you earlier today, but I had a lot on my mind," He said, hoping she would understand. Hermione was quiet for a moment, then said, "I forgive you Harry," but she would not meet his eyes with her own.

Harry didn't believe her. She was obviously keeping something from him. "Are you sure?" Harry asked, trying to look her in the eye.

"Yes, now I really must get back to my Charms essay," Hermione said.

"That's not due till next week!" Harry exclaimed. "Don't you have a minute to talk to me? I know something is wrong, Ginny told me you were crying!" Harry realized what he had said, and mentally cursed himself for not being more sensitive about it.

"I… I was not crying! That's a lie!" Hermione said, sounding defensive.

"You're telling me Ginny is a liar?" Harry asked, his eyebrows rose. He knew Hermione was Ginnys friend, would she really call her a liar?

"Well, no, not exactly, she thought she was telling you the truth," Hermione said, then quickly added, "But of course she wasn't, I was just studying," She was such a bad liar. All Harry wanted to do was to make things better, why couldn't she cooperate? It was beyond frustrating, and he realized he should end the conversation before he said something he would regret later.

"Well I know something was bothering you Hermione. I know because I saw you run out of the Great Hall. Don't lie to me, please don't lie to me. And, until you can come clean and tell me what's wrong, I'm not sure we can be friends. Friends tell each other things, Hermione," When he was done with his speech, he felt tears coming to his eyes. She couldn't see him crying, so he turned and walked away briskly, not looking back.

If only he had turned back, to look at Hermione one last time, he would have seen that she was crying to.

**A/N: So, for the past few days I've updated daily. That's not usual for me, so please do not get used to it. Anyway, thanks for the wonderful reviews and I'd love some more! Haha.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry, I think this chapter is really crappy. It's even shorter than the first chapter. I think I'm coming down with writers block *sigh*  
****And, another thing, I'm getting really annoyed. People are adding this to their alert list and their favorite list, and that's greta, but I want _REVIEWS_! If I don't get reviews, I'm not going to be motivated, and I'm not going to be able to get anymore chapters out. I think that's part of why this one sucks. It's because of the lack of reviews. If you want this story to be continues, _REVIEW_. It makes me think no one likes it when they don't review. And a special thanks to Jazzgirl123 who HAS been reviewing. Thanks!**

The following weeks were slow and dragging. Harry wouldn't talk to Hermione until she told him what was wrong. It seemed that she wasn't planning on doing that anytime soon. Hermione was just as stubborn as Harry was.

Harry didn't know what to do. It was a strange feeling, having Hermione out of his life. Of course, she wasn't really out of his life. She was in his classes, he saw her in the Common Room, and sat near her in the Great Hall. Of course, the only person really talking during their meals was Ron. And he was very confused. Harry could tell Ron didn't know what to do when his two best friends were fighting, or rather, not speaking.

The thing is, Harry knew he probably talk to Hermione to end all of this childish stuff, right now even, but he was scared. He didn't want to push her any further away.

They were both suffering from the separation. Sure, they didn't just die away with their friendship. They still talked, laughed, ate.

Now it is a Friday night, two weeks since Harry confronted Hermione.

Ron was starting to get suspicious.

Harry is sitting on his bed. He's looking at the Marauders Map without really seeing. Not until he sees the name "Hermione Granger". She's in the library. Harry didn't want to remember the last time he saw Hermione in the library. He tried to look away from her name, but his eyes kept drifting over, to watch her sitting motionlessly, or, sometime moving through the library to collect another book. He sighed as Ron walked into the room.

"Out with it, mate," Ron said, staring at Harry hard.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, getting himself some more extra time to think of a reasonable answer.

"You know! You and Hermione, something happened between the two of you! Why don't you just talk to her? What happened anyway?" Ron asked, exasperated.

Harry was about to lie and say it was nothing, but he felt like telling the truth. "The truth, Ron?" Harry asked, looking down at the Marauders Map again.

"I expect my best mate to tell me the truth," Ron said. He's calmed down.

"Well, where to start?" Harry said, taking a breath. "I guess the cause of this. Well, I really don't know what's up with Hermione. She just hasn't talked to me since I ignored her lecturing me," At the last minute, Harry lost his nerve and he decided against telling Ron of his feelings for Hermione.

"That's not it. I know you're close with Hermione, but you haven't been acting right," Ron said. Could he really see through him that easily?

"Guess I haven't," Harry muttered.

"I thought I was getting the truth, mate," Ron walked over to Harry, clasping a hand on his shoulder.

Harry sighed. "Well, I sort of… Fancy Hermione," Fancy was an understatement.

Ron was quiet for a moment before saying quietly, "I knew it, I always knew Harry Potter would get the girl I wanted…" It sounded as if he was talking to himself, rather than to Harry.

"But she likes you, not me," Harry said.

"She fancies you!" Ron said.

"How do you know? I'm positive she fancies you!" Harry said, and to anyone else this would be hilarious to look in on. They both wanted Hermione to like them but they were fighting that she liked the other.

"It's you mate," Ron said again.

"No! You!" Harry said. Ron laughed finally bringing an end to their little bickering. "What's so funny?" Harry asked, insulted.

"You really can't see it?" Ron asked, laughing even more.

"See what?" Harry asked, now interested.

"That she's so bloody in love with you!" Ron said. He was settling down from his laugh attack from the moments previous.

"In love… With me?" Harry asked.

Ron just nodded, and said "Go to her," Harry took a few seconds to actually comprehend what Ron had said. Then, he was up on his feet, running out of the room. Today was the day. Today is finally the day, Harry thought with a smile.

**A/N: Like I said before, review please :P **


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